


Dreams Bursting at the Seams

by rheabeth21



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, and my own personal view of what happens when dean finally manages to get some shuteye, but it is ultimately a good one i think?, it is not necessarily a happy view, it's just cas watching dean dream, other than that, there's like two seconds of dirty talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-07
Updated: 2013-03-07
Packaged: 2017-12-04 13:50:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/711445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rheabeth21/pseuds/rheabeth21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean doesn't realize that any time he is asleep, Cas watches over him and gains bit more insight into his favorite human every time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreams Bursting at the Seams

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic attempt, so comments/constructive criticisms are more than welcome. But be gentle, because I already know I'm not good at this and that I need help, okay? Sorry no smut -- I don't trust myself NEARLY that much yet. 
> 
> Ummm...what else should I let you know...For the purposes of this story, Sammy is elsewhere. Not dead or anything...just not around. Maybe he decided to stay with Amelia instead of starting to hunt again? I guess? Not set anywhere particular in the SPN storyline. Un-beta'd, obviously.

Castiel's favorite way to wile away time was watching his righteous man sleep. 

"I've told you before Cas, I just need to crash for like four hours and then we can head to Topeka and take care of that succubi, alright? So just chill somewhere and I'll call you when I wake up."  
"Why would I purposefully make myself cold until you call?"  
"I meant...oh, nevermind. Just wait, okay?"  
"Okay, Dean."

It amazed Castiel that, after all their time together, Dean still didn't realize that when Castiel vanished it didn't always mean that he had actually left. But although the angel had yet to learn all of the intricacies of human interaction, he did understand that the knowledge of how Cas spent those hours he waited might make Dean uncomfortable. He had also learned that when Dean got uncomfortable he tended to start yelling obscenities in the direction of whoever made him feel that way. So maybe it was better that the human remained unaware of his omnipresent angel.

The invisible Castiel crept over to the corner of the room to ensure that he would be out of the way and settled in to observe his human's pre-bedtime routine. Dean stood up from his chair and stretched, the hem of his shirt rising to just barely reveal the hem of his tighty-whities. The angel's gaze did not waver. Oblivious, the man carried his empty beer bottle over to the sink and rinsed it out. "And Sammy says he's the only one who can clean up after himself. Pfft." Castiel furrowed his brow. Dean only made such comments when he was sure that he was alone and the angel had come to realize that they were his way of acknowledging his ever-present self-doubt. It was infuriating that Castiel could not address him in such moments. Obviously Dean could clean up after himself. He had spent the majority of his childhood acting as both mother and father to his younger brother. When their father was around, the only cleanliness that matter was the care and maintenance of the Winchester weapon collection. Dishes piled up in the motel sink and laundry that hadn't been washed in weeks weren't even a blip on John's radar, but if there was one speck of dust on young Dean's sawed-off there would be hell to pay. 

Shaking his head, the angel brought his attention back to the man across the room, who was taking his shirt off as he exited the bathroom. This was Castiel's second favorite part of these evenings, although he would never admit that fact. Dean folded his clothes neatly and set them on the room's only chair, now wearing only his briefs and the amulet necklace that Sam had given him for Christmas many years ago. Even in the dim, flickering light of the motel room, the handprint scar on his shoulder was stark against his rippling tan skin. Castiel allowed himself a moment to preen at the image. It gave him intense joy to think that anyone who saw that scar could have no question that the elder Winchester belonged to Castiel, and only to Castiel. Dean flipped the lights off and the moment was briefly ruined as Castiel blinked at the sudden darkness, listening intently to the sounds of the human lifting up the sheets and climbing into the bed. It always took Dean a few minutes of changing positions before he found one that best catered to whatever bruises and sore muscles he'd acquired that day. When the angel's eyes finally adjusted, he saw that Dean was laying on his right side, with his right hand under his head and his left arm wrapped around the bed's spare pillow as if it were a person acting as the "little spoon" (The Winchesters had tried to explain that terminology to the angel, but he never quite understood what cutlery had to do with post-coital sleeping positions.) Within moments, the exhausted man was hard asleep and would be dead to the world for exactly four hours, even though he had not bothered to set the alarm on his phone or request a wake-up call. A lifetime of John Winchester's militant training had given his eldest son a disturbingly effective internal alarm clock.

Now came the portion of the night that Castiel loved the most, the aspect that made him look forward to the evenings where Dean frustratingly insisted that he needed time to sleep rather than pushing through straight on to the next case. Inevitably, as the righteous man drifted into REM sleep, he began to talk. Sometimes he would mutter, barely discernable over crappy A/C units or the blaring television in the next room over. Other nights, he would speak crystal clearly, as if wide awake and willing to share with the angel the aspects of himself that he kept buried deep. Certain that his human was asleep, Castiel walked over to the bed and sat lightly on the side that was only being occupied by Dean's arm and pillow-spoon. Within moments, the eldest living Winchester had begun vocalizing his dreams.

"I swear to God, Don, you really think I'm dumb enough to buy a joint off of you after what happened the last time?" 

"Please Dad. Just call him. I know he misses you as much as you miss him."..."Yes Sir. I apologize. I absolutely will not bring it up again, sir."

"Baby in a trenchcoat, seriously." Castiel shuddered, as he always did when the man was dreaming about him. 

"...hunting things. The family business."

"I've never done this with a guy before..."..."What're you talking about, I'm straight as an arrow. Didn't you see that hot chick I took home last night?"..."...oh yeah, sexy. want you to split me open like the cockslut i am."..."Damn, did you see the rack on that babe? Bet ya $10 I can get her number within five minutes."..."God, I don't think I'll be able to sit down at all tomorrow. Fuck...me...again." 

The angel's gut twisted, as it always did when his Winchester's dreams took this direction. For a moment, his world was overcome with deluge of both burning arousal and fierce jealousy. When he came back to his senses, Dean's dreams had moved to safer subjects.

"Sammy, I swear to God if I found out that you let a dog within ten feet of my car..." 

Suddenly, the man rolled onto his back side, throwing the extraneous pillow on the ground in the process. His soft sleep-addled tone turned into a plea of desperation.

"Please. Please, don't kill him. He's all that I've got anymore. He's my brother. Let him live and I'll do anything that you want." 

"Oh God, NO! Cas...Dear God, let him be okay. Sam, they took Cas and it looked like...oh god."

"...I'm going to die with a gun in my hand...that's all I have waiting for me." 

Castiel instinctively reached out a hand to soothe his precious charge. Although it broke all of the rules that he had put in place for these evenings, he could not bear to listen to Dean's pain any longer. Carefully, he laid his hand on the man's thigh and whispered as softly as he could 

"It's okay, Dean. I've got you. I am watching over you. Remember what your mother always told you? I am the angel that she was talking about. And I know that I have made mistakes and that I have not always been the friend that you needed. But I will never, ever leave you again. I swear by my Father and by the wings that he gave me. I swear to you that I will always be here to watch over and serve you in any way that I can. Believe me, Dean. I gave everything for you and I would do it all over again. I regret nothing, except causing you pain. I...I..."

The righteous man's body suddenly relaxed, releasing all of the tension that had been evidence of his disturbing dreams. With a contented sigh, he rolled back on to his right side and resumed the position that he had been in before, sans pillow-spoon. Castiel's hand was now trapped between Dean's legs. Ever so slowly, he extracted it, pausing every time that it seemed like Dean's breathing might have changed. Wary of further intervention, the angel stood and retreated back to the corner where he had begun the evening. Although it made him ache to be so far that he could no longer hear the man's words, he felt that it was safer that he remain distant until the urge had passed to wrap his human in his arms and grip him tightly until all of the negativity in his life melted away. Checking once more to ensure that Dean was resting peacefully, Castiel closed his eyes and began breathing in a meditation-like rhythym, focused only on clearing away all emotions. 

He was so intent upon this practice that he failed to notice just a few moments later when Dean cracked his eyes open and glanced around the room. Whispering more softly than even the angel had, the righteous man spoke one final time that evening. 

"Thank you, Cas. For everything. For jolting me out of that just now and for always watching over me, even when you think I don't know. I think know what you were trying to say and I just...I love you too, Cas. Always and forever."

When morning came, Castiel waited until Dean had gotten dressed and was turned toward the kitchenette counter arguing with the coffee pot before he rematerialized. He announced his presence with a clearing of his throat and a shuffling of his feet. Dean smiled softly, knowing that his beloved angel couldn't see his face. When he turned around, the professional mask was back in place as they began to discuss their plan of action for dealing with Topeka's succubi problem.

Neither would mention the words that had been spoken in the darkest reaches of the night. 

But both anxiously awaited the possibilities that would accompany the next night that Dean insisted on taking time to rest.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr as oywiththewaywardtardis and there's nothing I love more than having people come fangirl with me about these two idiots!


End file.
